Underneath the Mistletoe
by Aglaranna
Summary: A BtVS/Supernaturl Crossover. Due to a recent revelation about Dawn's parentage and Faith's engagement to Sam Winchester, Buffy, Xander, and Dawn are on their way to Lawrence to spend Christmas with the Winchesters. Can this holiday go smoothly?
1. Chapter 1: It's a Buffy Christmas!

_Underneath the Mistletoe_

A Present for Phoenix

**Pairing**: Buffy/Dean, Sam/Faith

**Summary**:**:** Due to a recent revelation about Dawn's parentage and Faith engagement to Sam Winchester, Buffy, Xander, and Dawn are on their way to Lawrence to spend Christmas with everyone's favorite Dark Slayer. But with Dean and Buffy's hatred for each other, and a history that only Faith and Sam are aware of, can this Christmas go by smoothly?

Chapter One: It's a Buffy Christmas!

It was six o'clock and the sun was setting over the placid rolling countryside of Kansas, and the sun was slowly drifting down into the western horizon. Snow covered the empty cornfields extending over the left and right low hills on either side of Interstate 70. Several small farmhouses dotted the countryside, and behind them the pale pink of the coming sunset bloomed across the smog drifting out of the city of Topeka. Which the 2006 silver Volvo sedan, a family car seating five with side airbags and kick ass stereo had passed thirty minutes previously. Not too long ago, but long enough for the car's occupants to begin feeling the anticipation of arrival and the chance to stretch their legs. It had been a long drive down from Cincinnati, Ohio, and the cramped space packed in with oversized luggage was making everyone cranky. In front seat, Buffy Summers sat with her forehead pressed against the glass as she watched the countryside roll by, next to her, hands on the wheel and singular eye staring straight ahead was her best friend Xander Harris, and in the back, crushed between presents already wrapped was Dawn. The youngest Summers crossed her arms over her seatbelt squashed chest as the sedan roared down the highway at reasonable speeds, to be perfectly exact, at seventy miles per hour. She glared through the front window, her eyes boring into the back of her sister's blonde head. She wasn't happy about their current plans to spend Christmas with Faith Lehane and her spankin' new boytoy in the bowel of Hicksville, aka Lawrence, Kansas. Dawn took a deep breath; as she listened to Buffy sigh for the sixth time. She'd been keeping count of how many times Buffy sighed, and after that had gotten boring after the first twenty minutes of the trip, she'd begun to break the sighs down by number every thirty minutes. Buffy was actually at two thousand seven hundred and sixty two sighs since they started the trip three days ago. Dawn frowned. She hated this idea, she hated spending anytime with Faith, and what she hated even more was the revelation by a small surviving sect of the Monks, the ones who had transformed her from living energy into a fourteen year old girl, that Buffy was in fact not her sister, but her mother. _Somehow, not much of a surprise._ Even though they'd fabricated all her memories to make her believe that she was the daughter of Hank and Joyce Summers, and Buffy's little sister. _Then it gets worse._ The monks had apparently felt that it was necessary to add in the genetics of a man who Buffy didn't know, and whom Dawn had never met to be her "father". _The sent Buffy the message, and apparently it was one Dean Winchester_. The brother of Faith's intended. Dawn swallowed, as she once again looked at her sister. _No, Mother._ So, it'd been inevitable that when Faith had asked, shyly, for them to spend Christmas with them. _If Faith can be shy_. It was true she didn't fit the standard definition, but Faith's kind of shy involved a lot of run around and misinformation before finally getting to the point. _Simply termed, bullshit._ Buffy had accepted. _Because apparently it's important for me to get to know the man who gave me half of my genetics._ Dawn wondered if anyone had told him yet. _Hello, Dean Winchester, we'd like to inform you that you not only have a daughter, but she's also a fully grown teenager. and seventeen years old. One that you had with a woman you've never met and never copulated with._ Dawn thought. She shook her head. She refused to accept that the man they were headed to meet was her "uncle". _Do we know if good ole' Deano is even going to show up?_ Dawn hadn't asked much about him. She sighed loudly and said.

"Remind me again." She watched as Buffy pulled her head off the cold glass window pane, startled. Dawn knew her sister, _Mother._ had been having trouble adjusting to their new life-routine. _Not that it's changed much._ Buffy had been acting like a mom ever since their _her_ mom had died. "Why are we spending our one and only Christmas holiday this year with a tried to kill your sister type and her probably psycho boyfriend?" She swallowed. "I thought that with me gone to university at Berkeley we'd be spending more quality family time."

Dawn felt the pause in the air, one that always indicated Buffy getting ready to speak, but Xander beat it her to it. "We are Dawnster." Xander said. Dawn smiled, good old Xander. He was always there for them, and she already thought of him as an uncle. _So why do I need a new one?_ She didn't think this new guy was going to replace Xander, it was more like she didn't want anyone to come along and, well, get in the way of her already well-adjusted family life. "But with Willow spending a quiet Hanukah in Italy with her squeezable Kennedy, and the house not being move-in-able for two more months in Cincinnati…"

"And the castle in Scotland is scrawling with Buffy's new sisters." Dawn said.

"And Giles." Xander agreed.

"Dawn, could you keep an eye out for Highway Ten?" Buffy asked, suddenly. Dawn swallowed and was about to answer, before Buffy continued her tone taking on the mom voice Dawn knew so well. _And has been appearing more frequently since the Monk's startling revelation_. "And no good will come of distracting the driver."

"Only if you were driving Buff." Xander said. He turned his shaggy black haired head, and smiled at Buffy. The petite blonde tugged nervously at the neck of her cream colored turtleneck, her bright hazel, almost green, eyes on the road ahead of them. Dawn thought she felt Buffy's lips tug into a half smile, but from her current vantage point there was no way to be sure. "Me, I'm perfectly capable of keeping my eye on the road and mind on the conversation in the backseat."

"I know." Buffy said. "I just don't want to miss the turn."

"You're being awfully serious for someone who regularly enjoys indulging in the Christmas spirit." Xander told her, and Dawn covered her mouth with her hand. "It's the season meant for the lifting of spirits, and a good old mug of eggnog. There's nothing like a couple of presents on Christmas Eve and twenty on Christmas morning to turn that frown upside down."

"And nothing like telling a complete stranger that he's got a seventeen year old child to make that frown a fixation of facehood." Buffy replied. She crossed her arms as she stared out the window. "I should never have told Faith." The last part was soft mutter, one that Dawn barely caught.

"So, this whole crazy get the family together plan was Faith's idea?" She asked.

"Last I heard it was her fiancée Sam's." Buffy said. "But who's really counting?"

"Faith with a fiancée." Xander mused. "There's something with worse odds than an apocalypse never enacting itself on an open hellmouth."

"Yeah." Buffy shrugged. "But it happened."

"And whoever made that bet is probably collecting his or her fortune as we speak." Xander said. He paused and considered the prospect for a moment. "That lucky bastard."

"So?" Dawn asked after the long pause following Xander's statement. She spoke half-hoping that Buffy would finally admit to the whole charade so they could turn the car around and spend Christmas in a hotel, like Buffy had originally planned. "We're sure this Sam Winchester guy is my uncle?"

"Yes, Dawn." Buffy said. "We are."

"Because you guys had me take that paternity test, right? And it turned out that Dad isn't my Dad right?" After Buffy had made the wild and crazy suggestion that they spend Christmas with Faith Lehane and the Winchesters, Dawn had pushed for vacationing with the man she "thought-was-her-father-but-turned-out-to-be-so-not' and his secretary in Paris, France. But Buffy had immediately shot down the idea. Not that Dawn could blame her. _Dawn Winchester, somehow that doesn't sound right._ But then, Dawn was ready to admit that Faith Winchester sounded even worse. She watched as both Xander and Buffy shifted uncomfortably in their seats, and Dawn continued, knowing she was only digging herself deeper into a hole. "I mean, we know right because Willow triple checked the results and their all matching this Dean Winchester guy, which I think is totally gross and wrong that the Monks made me out of parents who don't even love each other, and…"

"Dawn." Buffy said.

"Yeah?" Dawn's voice trembled as she replied. She still felt like this was some horrible joke. _And no one's laughing_.

"Enough."

"Okay." Dawn muttered. The trio sat in silence for a good long while after that statement. Finally Dawn attempted to break the silence, as she spotted the white sign and black lettering up ahead. "Oh look!" She exclaimed. "There's Highway Ten!" Five minutes later Xander turned the car onto the off ramp, and the vehicle rumbled as they began to head southerly. Dawn swallowed as she realized what that meant. They were now only twenty minutes away.

***

"Is this good enough?" Faith asked, as she re-positioned the Christmas tree for the umpteenth time. She'd just moved it from the center of the room to the front near the window. "This way the folks on the street can look in to see it. But is that something we want? People looking in? Actually it seems kind of creepy to me. Maybe I should move it." Her tirade paused as she remembered the tall man standing behind her. "What do you think?" Sam Winchester, with messy brunette hair and puppy dog brown eyes capable of making any girl between the age of twelve and fifty melt away in the immediate first glance, covered his mouth and hid a smile as he watched his fiancée. For some reason he couldn't fathom, he found her uneducated charm completely and utterly adorable. Especially the fact that she could pound his face into a distinct and bloody pulp. The woman formerly known as the Dark Slayer on the other hand held the tree still in a moment of indecision. Faith Lehane wasn't used to having visitors, and she was even less used to celebrating Christmas with anyone other than herself. Or spending it with some fun partner for a night of drunken dirty, naughty, sexy, and, more often than not, perverted fun. _Except for that one time Buffy invited me over_. And then she'd spent the evening watching over Joyce and the little annoyance who had once been known as Buffy's sister, while the other slayer tried to stop Angel, the then love of her life, from committing suicide. _And that time, like every other gets to be known as the Faith Lehane way of making great Christmas memories._ Or the way she made all her memories. _Blood, guts, destruction, death, it's not just a Buffy party._ Hopefully they could get through this Christmas without that. _But two hunters and two slayers around at the same time? What are the chances?_ Still, Faith wanted things to go well. She wanted Buffy to approve, and while their relationship had gotten better since the Mayor, the stealing of Buffy's body, the stint in prison, and fighting the First, Faith knew that she and Buffy were still nowhere near being best friends. _Might be nice someday though._ Deep in her cynical heart, Faith cherished the idea of spending a friendly night with Buffy in front of the fire with a warm glass of eggnog and sharing their war stories about the Apocalypses they'd stopped. _Hopefully before she and I get put into the old Slayers Home. _But it was a dream Faith knew was so far fetched that she kept it deep in the cockles of her heart, and only ever let it out… _Now_. She'd all but jumped chance given to her by the revelation of Dawn's parentage to take the opportunity to once again try and repair her relationship with Buffy. _Which means, as much as I hate it, that everything has to be perfect._

"Like I said about the last fifty places you put the tree." Sam said, as Faith stepped back from the tree and he walked forward to put his arms around her. "With three of those times being in this exact spot." Faith frowned, her black eyebrows bending inward to create a toughened expression on her squared face. She didn't turn around, instead she pulled away from his hold slightly and elbowed him. Sam coughed as the breath exploded out of his mouth, forced by a gentle hit from his super powered girlfriend. "It's fine." He wheezed.

"Fine is not good enough for, b." Faith said, as Sam, who had recovered from his momentary lack of breath, kissed the back of her head. "It needs to be perfect."

"Then it's perfect." Sam said. Faith looked up at him and glowered. Her dark, almost black eyes glittering beneath the incandescent bulbs of the overhead lamps, and the twinkle lights wrapped around the front window.

"You're just sayin' that to put me in a better mood." She said. "So that way I'll stop this show, pull out the naughty nurse outfit, and bang you a good one before Buffy finally manages to pull into the driveway." Sam raised his eyebrows as he looked down at her, his lips twitching as he held back a laugh. His arm tightened around her shoulders. "And it ain't gonna work."

"I think you meant Buffy plus, what were they called again?" The lines on Sam's forehead tightened a bit as he frowned in concentration.

"Scoobies." Faith replied. "And it ain't gonna be the whole crew, just Xander."

"And my niece." Sam said. The word sounded strange on his tongue. But then, believing that a set of monks had created a little girl out of a bunch of energy and chosen to combine the genetics of a Vampire Slayer with, of all the possible people in the world, his brother still sent his brain reeling. He had a niece. He had a seventeen-year old niece who attended UC Berkeley, the college rival of his alma mater. It wasn't that he didn't trust his girlfriend, but when Sam had first heard the news he'd been forced to check it out himself. He blamed his natural Winchester curiosity for that. So, when Faith hadn't been watching he'd taken the time and looked her up on Facebook to see what Dawn Summers looked like. _And she's got Mom's nose, Dean's mouth, and my ears._ That had sealed the deal for him more than anything else. Dawn Summers, while being young, thin, and pretty had the appearance of a Winchester. _A Winchester not raised on guns._

"I know Dean won't like it." Faith sighed. "But he is coming right?"

"He said he'd show. He called four days ago to say he'd finished hunting a Shapeshifter in Denver, and that he was on his way." Sam said. Faith raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him. "What?"

"He called four days ago?" She asked. "And he isn't here yet?"

"Knowing Dean he probably got lost in a bar on the way here."

"And in some two timing blonde skank."

"Most likely three or four." Sam said. His brother's player ways were well known to both of them, and especially to Faith. _After all, we met because she slept with him first._ That had of course been on one of the few missions she'd had post-Sunnydale Apocalypse with Buffy. _Not the best way for Dean to make a first impression._ According to Faith, Buffy pretended like that little encounter had never happened, and Sam knew Dean acted the same way. "I think I heard him mention a brunette." He watched Faith smile, and shake her head.

"Good ole' Deano." She said. "Takes him five days to make it, and he'll probably turn up drunk on Christmas Eve." Not that Faith normally minded, Dean was a good time, and hell of a man in bed. He was one of the few people she'd met with the strength and tenacity to keep up with a Slayer. _Even Sammy took a few practice runs before he really got up to snuff._ Now though, Faith preferred Sam's tendency to rotate between being gentle and expressing his rough and tumble nature. "Not that I would mind, but…"

"It's not the best way to make a first impression." Sam nodded. "Especially not on his fully grown offspring." _That he doesn't know he has._ Sam hadn't found a good time yet to tell Dean, and with each and every attempt, his courage to do so decreased. Sam could just imagine Dean's reaction. _What the fuck?_ Was the most likely. _Especially with Buffy_. Dean professed a strong hatred for the blonde slayer. _Or at least he does on the surface._ Sam, for his part, believed that it was a standard case of the clichéd profession of hate to cover up being madly in love. _Or at least madly in lust._ He had no idea how Buffy felt on the subject, but he hoped it was something similar. Sam glanced at Faith; a thoughtful expression had come over her features. Sam knew her well enough to know that anytime Faith became thoughtful he was either in trouble or that trouble was brewing. Worry began knotting in his stomach.

"You told him, right?" Faith asked. Her dark eyes shot back to him, and Sam released his hold. "Dean knows he's got a kid running around, right?" Sam turned and started heading for the basement. "Sam?"

"I'm going to get out the decorations." Sam said, and then he made his hasty retreat.

"Shit." Faith muttered. She stared at the tree for another long minute, then she walked forward to move it again. _It'll all work out._ She thought. _It'll all work out._ 'Course there was also the fact that three months ago, Dean and Buffy had probably slept together on that random mission where they'd chased down a Mohra demon hell-bent on raising the long dead spirit of it's master Mavrek and his armies. Faith chewed her lip. Things could be better. _And true to B's form, they can always get a lot worse._ Faith just hoped it wasn't hellmouth worthy worse.

A/N: I wrote this as a Secret Santa Present for my friend Phoenix on Paradise Lost, so, while I don't support the Faith/Sam ship (being more of a Buffy/Sam fan myself), I wrote it because he likes it, and it's important to give people presents that they will like. I decided to post it here because I think it's important to share. I just want you all to know that it was a bitch to write, Joss Whedon has a very specific writing style and dialogue pattern that if thrown off sends the characters spiraling out into orbit and makes the writing sound like crap. So I hope I got the wackiness in properly. If there's one thing I hate it's characters who don't sound the way they're intended to. Kripke is a tough man to imitate and Joss doubly so. Anyway, that's enough bitching from me.

Tell me your feelings, like it? Love it? Hate it? I always love reviews, so leave me some!

Happy Holidays my lovely readers!


	2. Chapter 2: Offspring Who?

Chapter Two: Offspring Who?

Dean Winchester downed the rest of his beer as he stood. He had yet to forgive Sammy for moving back to Lawrence, Kansas, even more for him setting up shop in their old house, and finally for getting engaged to the hellion that was Slayer Faith Lehane. Not that Dean could blame his brother. The woman added a new level of heat to the she's-so-hot-scale, and from what Dean remembered she was an animal in the sack. It probably had something to do with those Primordial Slayer urges. She had stamina, fire, passion, and she wasn't for him. Dean wiped his hands on his jeans as he tossed a billfold of cash onto the bar. Once had been enough. Faith was nice, enthusiastic, fun, but she wasn't really his flavor of whisky. Frankly, spending any length of time on Demon hunting missions with Faith had only proven to him that they were in fact too much alike. _And any extra hours spent together involves either grinding on the dance floor or me getting ready to blow her brains out._ That's why he was here, in the only bar Lawrence Kansas offered and not pulling to a stop in front of his old house or congratulating his brother posthumously on his engagement. Dean wasn't going to stand in Sam's way if he wanted to get married, but Dean did have the right to question Sam's choice. Faith Lehane had a criminal record that was almost as extensive as his own. _And it's worse because she actually committed the crime._ Sam might believe that Faith's stint in prison had made her a productive member of society, but Dean was still wary. _She did after all break out of prison three years ago_. He understood that it was to save the world, and that Faith had since received a new identity, making her virtually untrackable by the Feds. Still. _She's friends with bitchy Buffy Summers_. She was a Slayer, and that meant she was a super powered girl destined to kill demons for the rest of her life. _Like Buffy_.

Dean was not a fan. He hadn't been, not since he'd made the mistake of sleeping with her after they'd killed the Mohra demon. Buffy had impressed him by stabbing it with a sword through its forehead, and passion had spiraled out from there. _We fucked on the floor next to it's dead body_. It had freaked him out a little, so afterwards he'd taken off. No explanation, no phone calls, he'd been dodging her ever since. Not that she'd been pursuing him. Not that he'd expected her to. _And she's coming for Christmas._ Dean swallowed. Buffy Summers was a competent slayer with a tight ass, and an even tighter nature. She got the job done, always with minimal to no casualties, and saved the world. On a freakishly regular basis too and he'd made the mistake of sleeping with her. Then made the problem worse by doing the cowardly thing and running away. He's had a fucking superhero beneath him on the concrete floor, and then he hadn't only let her get away, he'd fled. He wasn't proud of it, and his guilt was made worse, no compounded by his need to sleep with her again. Not that she would have him. On a few occasions over the past three months, when sleeping with the random woman wouldn't satisfy, something that was increasing with frightening regularity, he'd try to give her a call. _And at the sound of her voice I hang up._ As if he wasn't embarrassed enough by his emotions telling him to crawl back to her on hand and knee. Dean shook his head, turned, and headed for the exit. After all, he'd promised Sammy he'd show. _Before Christmas Eve._ Especially since he hadn't even gone shopping from the betrothed pair yet. _Too bad we couldn't get Bobby to come_. But the older hunter was off on some demon chase, and he couldn't be reached. _Could of used the support._ That or Bobby would've taken the opportunity to shoot his ego full of proverbial holes. _Both._

"Merry Christmas!" The barman called. Dean turned around, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. It was two days 'till the fateful day, and Dean didn't know why everyone felt like reminding him that he would once again be vacationing in hell.

"Yeah." Dean said. He didn't bother to wave. His mood didn't leave a lot of room for politeness but he resisted the urge to flick the bartender off. Instead, he turned back around and walked through the exit. The bell rang as he banged the old cracked oak door open, and out into the frigid parking lot. "There's gotta be some law stating it has to be below freezing on Christmas." He muttered. He hadn't been in Lawrence since the last time their old house went haywire, and he'd never had the intention of being around again. "Humbug." He grumbled as he slid across an ice patch, and walked around the front of his 1967 shining black Chevy Impala. It had snowed again, recently, and the windshield was covered in frozen white powder. If he had his way it would just be him and Sam in an old motel exchanging crappy gifts they'd bought from a local gas station. That was the perfect way to spend the holidays. Dean pulled his hand out of his pocket and began wiping off the snow. His fingers freezing and expanding to the size of sausages as he cut through the icy water. Dean swore, and tucking his hands into his jeans jacket and the flannel cuffs of his shirt, continued to wipe the snow away, until the car was completely clean. Then he climbed in and started the engine. "Come on baby." He muttered as she sputtered, frozen by the cold. It was a common occurrence in old cars, but still it bugged the hell out of him. Finally, the Chevy Impala roared to life. Dean backed it out of the parking spot, careful of the snow on the ground, as he looked up at the florescent sign of Hardy's Bar and a cowboy dancing with a scantily clad girl next to the swirled lettering. This image was compounded by a light up Santa Claus with his reindeer and slay full of packages taking off on the apex of the roof. "Damn." Dean grumbled. "I thought we adults were over the whole Santa thing." Apparently he was wrong. _Especially when a crummy bar is celebrating the Christmas miracle._ Dean supposed he should just be thankful that they hadn't pulled out baby Jesus and the manger. He shook his head, then looking back over his shoulder, turned the wheel and sped out into the street. Even after all these years he still knew the way home.

000

The 2008 Volvo sedan pulled up next to house 1908 on Maple Drive, in Lawrence Kentucky. Dawn peered through the backseat window to see an undecorated Christmas tree through the curtains of the houses first window. She hid a smile, a little touched by the fact that Faith had waited for them before starting the decorations. Dawn's favorite part of the holiday after presents had always been the Christmas tree. She loved deciding between the star or the angel, and stringing the popcorn, twinkle lights, and tinsel around the bristly boughs. She loved the fresh scent it gave the house, and she even loved getting her hands sticky with sap when she touched the trunk after missing a branch. Christmas always made her feel like a little kid, in fact, she wanted to feel like a little kid. It was important. A door slammed. Dawn jumped. She turned around to see Buffy and Xander already out of the car and making their way around to the trunk.

"Hurry up Dawn." Buffy called. Dawn opened her own door and began to gather up the bags of presents, as she stepped out. Her front foot slipped as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, and she fell backwards, hitting the side of the Volvo.

"Ow." Dawn whimpered. Clutching her side, she tried to right herself, but stepped out wrong again, and hit the ground.

"Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed. Handing off one of the suitcases to Xander she rushed around the side of the car. Dawn had always been the most important thing in the world to her, even more so now that she knew she was her daughter, and Buffy would give her life to protect her. As she turned the side to see Dawn sitting on her ass and pouting in the middle of the snow coated pavement, Buffy couldn't help but smile.

"I'm such a spaz!" Dawn yelled. Buffy watched as her daughter turned her light brown head up to look up at her with eyes that were nearly exact copies of Buffy's own. "Why am I such a spaz?" She complained, as she watched her twenty four year old mother walk towards her.

"Part of the Summers condition." Buffy told her. Dawn was about to complain how Buffy had grace and poise, and never did something this silly with her Slayer skills, when she watched Buffy's heeled foot hit a hidden patch of ice wrong, and saw her sister/mother go down. There was a crack as Buffy's behind slammed into the ice, and then there was silence, as Buffy's hazel green eyes met Dawn's with a mixture of stunned surprise and embarrassment. There was a long pause. Then it was interrupted by laughter coming from the porch.

"You never change B." Faith called, from where she leaned on the railing. Her dark brunette hair cascading over her shoulders, and only partially covering the red sweater with the Santa head ironed over her bust. "You either little sis." She paused. Her lips pursing as she considered a new nickname. "Guess it's little Buffy now isn't it?"

Dawn glowered at Faith, but to her surprise Buffy broke out laughing. The Dark Slayer hopped the railing gracefully, and made her way carefully out to where Buffy sat on the cold sidewalk. Dawn watched, surprised as Faith offered Buffy a cautious hand, and was even more surprised when Buffy took it. _What happened between them?_ Buffy always had a natural distrust of Faith, and yet here she was accepting Faith's hand like it was nothing, and letting Faith pull her to her feet. "As nicknames go that's pretty unoriginal." Buffy said, as she wiped off her pants. "You can do better than that Faith."

"Not known for my brains, B." Faith joked. Dawn watched as a small smile found it's way onto Faith's lips, and her suspicions grew.

"True." Buffy said. "Work on brain expansion is a must." Faith laughed. Dawn was so enthralled by the peaceful aura between the two rival Slayers that she didn't hear the car pulling up next to them, or the strange man stepping out onto the sidewalk, she even missed Xander coming up behind her.

"Upsy daisy, Dawnster." He said. His hands came underneath her arms and he lifted her to her feet. Dawn smiled at him, as Xander patted her on the shoulder. She brushed her hair back, and tried to find even footing.

"Thanks Xander." She said.

"No worries." The older man shrugged, and he winked at her with his one good eye. "Everyone slips on the ice. Even I've been known to do it, unbelievable as that is." He nudged Dawn.

Buffy looked back at them, a smile on her lips. "A big hunk of manly love like you Xander?" She asked. Her voice playful as her eyes twinkled. Still, Dawn noticed there was a sadness there. _Probably what's been making her sigh all the way here_. "Fall? Never."

"Of course, Buffy." Xander bowed. "I must have been mistaken."

"And how many times is that?" Dawn asked. "How many times did you slip on Sunnydale's winter ice?"

"Oh, you mean the ice of the nonexistent?" Xander asked. "Ten maybe twenty times." Dawn giggled. She looked over at her sister, but Buffy's face had frozen, and the smile that had been so ready on her lips was now reduced to grimace. Faith's eyes went to Buffy's face, and then back to the black Chevy Impala that had pulled up behind Xander's car.

"Dean." Faith called. Dean Winchester straightened, and shut his door with a clang, as he turned. He sucked in his breath as his eyes traveled over the two Slayers. Buffy looked even better than he remembered in her cream turtleneck, long black coat, tight fitting jeans and stylish black boots. "You're late." Dawn whirled around, her eyes on the scruffy man who made up half of her genetic material, hoping that she could see a resemblance between them. Dawn's eyes made their way over his tall form, he stood six feet tall, which was average height for a man in the United States. Maybe he was five foot ten, was she making him taller? Dawn shook her head. _He's so hot!_ She thought. _I'm so going to hell_. He was older than Buffy, and anyone older than Buffy was categorized into the realm of the undateable. _Plus he's my dad._ Or at least, half of him was her, whether or not an emotional connection was there. She stared at his handsome blue eyes, and then it occurred to her. He was staring at her sister funny, like someone had just dropped a brick on his head. Then Dawn turned her gaze back to her sister, Buffy was watching him with a mixture between excitement and startled terror. Dawn quickly recognized that expression as her "need-to-flee-painful-meeting-with-ex-boyfriends" one.

"Thought Buffy didn't know him." Xander muttered, his fingers tightening on Dawn's shoulder.

"Guess she forgot to mention it." Dawn muttered. Hurt cut into her heart. All those times she'd pestered Buffy with questions about her father, and she'd never opened up once. _Did he hurt her or something?_ That was likely given the expression on her face.

"Hey Faith." Dean Winchester said. He started up the path. His eyes flicking to the teenager and the one eyed man standing beside a pretty silver Volvo. _Buffy brought a date?_ Was she trying to screw with his head? "Where's Sam?"

"Inside." Faith said. "Usual place." Her hand tightened on Buffy's shoulder. Something was wrong. She could tell. She'd seen Buffy pissed off enough to know the signs. What had happened between the two of them? _Dean probably pulled a Dean, slept with Buffy and took off._ That fit the bill. Except… it didn't explain why Buffy was being skittish. _Unless she's nervous about Dean's reaction to Dawn being his spawn._ No, that wasn't it either. She felt Buffy's left hand ball into a fist.

"Thanks." Dean said, and he walked forward, things were awkward enough without him sticking around much longer. Buffy's sharp green eyes were taking on the death glare, and Dean had no wish to find himself on the wrong side of a stake, crossbow, sword, or whatever else was packed away into the back of that Volvo. He paused. "You got cable?" He asked, as he made his way up to Faith.

"And pay per view." Faith winked. "Couldn't live without it."

"Get the rough and tumble in when little Sammy's not in the mood?" Dean grinned.

"More like gettin' ideas to expand on the bullwhips and naughty nurses." Faith said. "Takin' out all the anxiety over not killin' on your brother."

"Too much information." Dean said. He put his hands up in front of him and shook his head. "Don't need to know what dirty things you and Sammy get up to in the dead of night."

"You know you're a little curious." Faith laughed. Her arm still around Buffy's shoulders as she looked at him, and Dean met her eyes. Then he glanced at Buffy. She probably already hated him, but there was no reason to raise her ire. His eyes darted to her balled fist. _Nevermind, already there._

"How are you princess?" Dean asked. He crossed his arms. Buffy bit her lip, and Dean swallowed, it was wrong that he found it sexy. "Killed anything big and ugly lately?" Buffy blinked. He was talking to her. Why was he talking to her?

"Not lately." She smiled sweetly. "But you're certainly on the list." She glanced at Faith. "What you think Faith? Does Mr. Dean Winchester here count as big and ugly?" Faith nodded.

"Think you'd have to throw dumb into that too, B." Faith said.

"Certainly works in the equation." Buffy said. Dean smirked. So things were back to normal after all. "I think that works out to him being a chauvinistic asshole without a prayer for kisses under mistletoe." She glanced at Faith. "Don't you think?"

"Couldn't agree more." Faith said. She winked at Dean. "Looks like you're out of ladies to sleep with Dean-o. It's gonna be a cold and lonely Christmas."

Dean paused. He hated letting anyone have their way, especially when it came to Buffy. He couldn't allow her to have the upper hand against him. His gaze snapped over the snow to where the one-eyed man was standing with the teenager. He could only assume she was the little sister Buffy always talked about. "Not completely out of ladies." He grinned at Dawn and winked. "How are you sweetheart?"

"Wouldn't go there if I were you." Faith cautioned.

"Eww!" Dawn complained. "So gross! Buffy!" Buffy smirked at Dean and shook her head.

"You are a bad dirty man." Xander laughed as Dean recoiled. "Though I approve of your guts and gusto. It's an interesting way to take a chance, though inbreeding will certainly result. Not to mention a few broken state regulations and a felony."

"Inbreeding?" Dean asked. He glanced around the group looking for his brother. Sam was usual available to explain the things he'd missed. _Not Buffy's little sister? But I don't have any other relatives…_ "Somebody explain."

"You mean you don't know big bad hunter-man?" Xander asked.

"Don't tease Xander." Buffy quipped. "Apparently Sam hasn't had the chance to explain it to him." She glanced Faith. "I thought he was going to tell him?"

"Must've chickened out." Faith replied. "Not surprising, considering that he wanted him to show up for the holidays." She smirked. "We have a surprise present for you Dean-o."

"Call it family extension." Xander said.

"Xander." Buffy said.

"Man's gotta find out sometime Buff."

Buffy shook her head. "Buffy?" Dean asked. "The hell is going on?"

"I'm your daughter!" Dawn blurted. That was the point Sam walked out onto the porch, and was met with stunned silence.

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! I'm trying to not make this story too long, and yet I'm still incapable of writing anything short.

Leave me reviews, tell me what you think, reviews make me write faster. I love to get them and read them. ^_^


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